Learn To Fly
by Hikari no Donya
Summary: [shonen-ai SR] When you're a child you wish you could fly. When you grow up you lose that dream... but now he's going to try again. He's going to fly from the cliff...and he'll show him. Show him that this dream can be reached...
1. Take a step

Learn to Fly 

Woah, talk about trip from the norm. Definitely not my thing… but still I though it was cute. In a way… yeah. 

Hmm, oh right. Disclaimer… hehe almost forgot. I don't own Kingdom Hearts or it's characters. Wish I did though, it would be so cool to own some bishies. *sighs* Riku is soooo hot.

Anyway, moving along… this has shonen-ai. Meaning malexmale stuff, so if you don't like it then don't read it. 

~*~*~*~

**Chapter One: **Take a step…

A light breeze floated across the grass-covered mesa, giving the not-so-surprisingly warm evening a gentle chill. It was, Sora mused, a _nice _evening… in the sense of weather and humidity. His feelings didn't quite match the wonderful day it was supposed to have been.

Sora had planned it all out, from the spot on the beach to the paopu fruit; it would have been the perfect day. Unfortunately nothing was ever perfect, and nothing ever went as planned. In fact when had anything actually gone right in Sora's life? Was never a good enough answer?

Sora thought it was… I mean, he actually bothered to make an effort this time and it was wasted. Wasted because… well just because. Because? Because Riku never showed up. Oh at first Sora had thought it had been innocent enough. I mean everyone forgets stuff now and again, right? And even Riku had the right to be late… yeah late. Two hours, a half eaten sandwich, and a sandy paopu later… and Riku still hadn't shown. 

It had left Sora sick with apprehension… wondering if something had happened. Sora _knew_ Riku, and him forgetting completely was not something the silver- haired boy would do. So Sora, after a few seconds deliberation, decided to go and look for him.

Suffice to say it didn't take Sora long… but when he did, he didn't like what he saw. Riku laughing… with Tidus. Riku smiling… with Tidus. Riku having fun… with Tidus. Sora should have known, known he'd find something like this. They said that the course of true love never ran smooth… well they could shove it up their asses for all the rightness of it. Unfortunatly this little bit of _rough_ was more than just that _bump in the road. _

He remembered a bit of advice, whether from his Mum or Selphie he didn't know, what he did know however is that he had thought it good advice… _at the time._

I want the person I love to be happy, more than I want their love returned. Of course I would be delighted to have it returned. But…if the person I love is happy, that's all I need to be happy.

I'm sure the person you love is very happy… 

The fact was that Sora wasn't happy. In fact he was livid that Riku was acting like that around someone else… someone that wasn't him. He was being happy… with Tidus. Tidus! Sora couldn't help but let a few tears fall, and hit the grass beside him.

"How could he? I.... I love him more than anything in the world! I wouldn't let anyone else have him!" Sora sobbed. "But the worst part is that I really like Tidus, too! I like him, too! He's so nice! If Riku loves him there's nothing I can do, but.... But I can't stop crying! It's not helping... and I could never hate him, no matter what happens.... Or Tidus!" He whimpered, stood and looked over the edge of the cliff, and down to the water below.

There was, he noted, no quick way to land from the drop… and if he fell he would either die on impact… or drown. Much like the paopu he'd left on the beach… the tide would have surely covered it by now. Still that didn't stop him from leaning dangerously over the edge. It was like it called to him to lean, the danger appealed to him. 

He moved away from the edge, leaning like that… feeling the wind on his face, and looking at the sheer height of it. It made him remember… remember when he was younger… more naïve to the ways of the world than he was now.  

Almost everyday Sora had dreamed of flying, he used to dream of it a lot. He guessed most kids did, it seemed like the natural thing. He'd watch the gulls sometimes, swooping and gliding in the cloudless sky, flapping their wings. He remembered the makeshift pair he'd made when he was six, he thought it would have worked… he even tested them… by jumping off the bridge. Needless to say… it didn't work.

But Sora wasn't six anymore… he'd grown up. He was older, and all kinds of hardship had been thrown on his shoulders, and he didn't dream of flying anymore. At least he hadn't dreamt it, not in a long time… ten years to be precise. He was sixteen now, and the last time he had dreamt of flying was the day his wings had failed.

Now… now though, perched on the edge of this cliff, the breeze drifting past, the sound of the waves below… now he dreamed again. He wanted to fly. Soar through the sky, and glide to the ground. And he would.

Sora would fly…it wasn't like he had anything to lose. It would be just like that day on the bridge, except he was older… and didn't have those silly cardboard wings strapped to his back.

All he had to do was take a step…

~*~*~*~

Oh cliffhanger-y angst… fantastic ne? *dodges rotten tomatoes* Ok, ok! Jeeze, no need to worry, I have the other two chapters ready to post. So if people like it, it's all ready. So review ^^ 


	2. Spread your wings

Thanks everyone for the reviews ^^

I appreciate every single one of them, they were so nice. Well same as before, I still don't own Kingdom Hearts. Damn…

**~*~*~*~**

**Chapter Two: **Spread your wings…

This was bad. Really bad. The silver haired boy was mentally cursing himself, how could he have forgotten?! Forgotten that he'd promised to meet Sora. Forgotten that they were going to spend the day together. Sometimes Riku wondered if his name should have been baka! 

He'd been on his way to Sora's house when he met up with Tidus… and he'd stopped to talk. He thought that a little detour wouldn't hurt. Ha, how wrong he had been! That _little _detour had turned into a two-hour chat! Two hours! As if he hadn't been spending enough time with the blonde, now he had to go and postpone seeing Sora to talk to him… for two hours!! 

Jeeze, as if he hadn't neglected Sora enough for the past month. Just because he'd shared some… _secrets…_ with Tidus (and in all honesty the blonde was only trying to help) didn't mean it gave him the right to shun Sora. Maybe, Riku mused, telling Tidus that he liked Sora _like that_ wasn't going to help. Although it had eased the pressure of keeping it bottled up.

Now he'd done something awful, he'd forgotten to meet with his best friend. He'd promised as well! Not only that, but it had been a pinkie promise. Which wasn't something Riku did often, but it was worth it for the rose coloured tint that had flushed Sora's cheeks. 

It was only when Tidus had voiced out loud that he thought he'd just seen Sora that Riku had remembered. He'd voiced out loud his _remembrance_, with a very tasteful '_Oh shit_', and taken off, leaving a very confused Tidus behind. 

Riku had been too late though… by the time he'd reached the beach Sora was already gone. On the sand there was a half eaten sandwich, and… a papou fruit. Even more of a reason to hate himself, Sora had set up this whole day… just to tell Riku how he felt. At least that's what it looked like.

The papou fruit… the Destiny Island's local delicacy. It was a symbol…

They say if two people share a papou fruit their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives… no matter what.

God, how badly had Riku messed up this time?! A lot? _That_ was an understatement. There were no words to describe how badly he'd messed up, there were none that existed that Riku could say to curse himself.

What must Sora think?! God with all the shunning Riku had been doing he wouldn't put it past Sora to think that he liked Tidus! Oh… what if he did?! What if Tidus had seen Sora? That would mean Sora had seen them together…

That was when Riku had started looking for Sora in a frenzy, he _knew_ Sora. Sora was reckless… he did things he'd regret. What if? Nah… Sora wouldn't… but what if he did?! It only fuelled Riku to look more. He'd even checked Sora's house… damn he'd checked every house that Sora could have gone to!

He'd checked over by the papou tree, on the bridge, under the bridge, heck Riku had even checked the 'secret' place.  There wasn't even a trace of the brunette… no footprints, no evidence of him being anywhere (save the beach)… nothing.

It was around nine when Riku decided to give up. That was until he thought about the mesas. Specifically the one that overlooked the sea. The one where Sora and he had gone, only a few months back.

He'd climbed the fastest he'd ever climbed, hope renewed that Sora would be there. After all Riku had looked everywhere else… there was nowhere other than here that Sora could be. His spirits fell when at first he saw no one… but he looked again through the darkness, and saw his light standing a little too close to the edge that Riku liked. He was about to call out to Sora… before he heard the whispers carried by the breeze…

"Take a step," and with that he took a small pace forward. It was almost as though Sora was caught in a trance of some sort. "Spread your wings…" With the next words Sora stretched out his arms…

It was then it hit Riku… Sora wasn't merely whispering. These were the exact same words Sora had said the day he tried to fly. The day the six-year-old brunette had taken his cardboard wings over to the bridge.

_"Ri-kuuuu! Riku!"_

_"What?"_

_"Watch me! Watch me fly!"_

_"Don't be silly, you goof. Humans can't fly!"_

_"I can Riku… just you watch…"_

Riku did watch. He remembered that day clearly. The same words were spoken… the same steps taken. It was like the routine check for flying.

_"See Riku. Take a step…spread your wings…and…fly"_

He remembered as Sora jumped off the bridge. He remembered as Sora hit the water, his wings destroyed. Sora's dreams had failed him… and he'd cried on Riku. Leant on Riku… used him for support.

"And fly…" Was what snapped Riku out of his daydream. His eyes went wide and he lurched forward as Sora started falling.

"SORA!!!"

"You were right Ri-ku… humans can't fly. And I even spread my wings…" 

_~*~*~*~_

Well… that's it. For now. Aren't I evil ^^

Don't forget to review. I like reviews!


	3. And Fly

Aya! So many reviews! And all positive… I'm so happy! I'm sorry I took so long to post this, I've been a little busy with school and stuff. My final exams are coming up, so it's full speed ahead. As usual me no own Kingdom hearts. Surprise, surprise!

~*~*~*~

**Chapter Three: **…And fly.

Sora was only slightly aware of his name being screamed as he floated gently through the night air. This was his adrenaline rush, this feeling of blood coursing through his veins, making him _feel _again. He felt weightless, an amazing feeling by _any _stretch of the imagination… and he liked it. He distantly heard footsteps, and ragged breathing… this for him was his stand still of time.

For Riku… Riku wished that time would stop, just for a fleeting second so he could reach the brown haired boy. He chanted his mantra in his horror filled mind, that everything would be ok… that he would reach Sora in time… but slowly the mantra was fading, the horrors of reality beating it back.

He jumped, heart in his throat, and slid across the grass to make up the distance his legs would not carry him along. His eyes were blurred with unshed tears as he reached out, aimlessly searching for a body part, something he could grasp… something he could save.

He thought he had failed for a millisecond, ready to bow down his head to the floor in defeat… ready to cry out in agony and pain… heart wrenchingly so. Then he felt the extra weight that he held in his hand, and it jerked his lying body forward… he'd grasped Sora's arm…

This was his chance, he had to save him. He couldn't let him fall, not now. Not when he knew how the other felt. He reached out with his other arm, gripping tighter around the dangling boy's arm. He could see, barely, over the cliff edge… could see Sora's trance dazed eyes. That was when Riku knew, knew the only way to save Sora was to break him out of it.

"S-Sora…" He choked out, tears filling his voice, "Sora please… please listen," he was begging, the almighty Riku was _begging. _Yet Riku cared not for that minor fact, the only thing he cared for was getting the teenager back onto solid ground… and if that failed. Well let's say Riku was willing to dive in after Sora, if not to drown and freeze in the arms of the person he loved the most. Yet, it didn't have to come to that yet, as Sora's eyes became… _knowing _and frightened, this own tears pricking at the sides.

"Riku!" He gasped, flailing a little, "Oh gods!" Sora said, his voice rasping at the edges. Riku didn't know at that point how glad he was Sora had replied. He just knew, knew Sora didn't want to fall… his voice told him this.

His tears dibbled down flushed cheeks, and a small smile graced the silver haired teens mouth. "So-ra, I thought we'd been through this before," he said, nervously laughing. It was more to take their minds of the current situation.

"Riku…" Sora whispered, closing his eyes. Riku sighed, trying to tug the boy up, finding he couldn't made him panic slightly, but his rational mind told him to stop… to be calm.

"Sora, I need you to reach for my other arm… then brace yourself against the side!" Riku rushed, releasing one arm from his metallically solid grip. He could feel icy fingers brush against his free arm, trailing up, trying to reach for him. He leant his arm forward ever so slightly, clenching his hand around Sora's other arm.

He felt the weight lighten slightly, as a more calm Sora braced his feet against the cliff. Riku pulled, strength of the damned he's say, more like the strength of a petrified teen. He managed to pull the brunette back onto solid ground, both toppling into a… compromising position.

The unshed tears flew now, freely, down both of their faces. Riku pulled Sora into a loving hug, rocking his back and forth, tears momentarily slipping from his face.

"I'm so sorry, so… sorry," Sora was whispering now, cool breath at Riku's ear, Riku laughed tearfully, holding the young boy tighter.

"No Sora," more tears, "I am."

And that was how they stayed, in each others arms, for hours it seemed under the glittering moonlight, wrapped in the comfort and safety that was each other. This was when Sora realised he'd been wrong… Riku didn't _love _Tidus. How pathetic he'd been to think so…

He was glad his angel had come to the rescue, wingless yet heroic, and Sora knew… knew that this dream didn't need it's wings to take flight. It just needed them.

That was when he learned to _truly _fly.

~*~*~*~

*Sniffles* That's it! Such an ending too, so short, yet fulfilling, don't you think? Please review, I'd love to hear your comments. I know that this was a really short story, all I wanted to do was get the feelings across. I think I accomplished that, ne? 


End file.
